b'INDUSTRY NEWSI gave them my two-week notice and they were kindbelieve in your product, how easy is that to sell? of smart asses about it and said, Well, I think we paysaid McGlothlin.you too much money, you can come back beggingAround the same time, Empire Roofing became a for a job, he said. If I ever had any motivation evercertified roofing contractor with Owens Corning. in my life, it was like, I wasnt going back. McGlothlinsaidtherewereveryfewcertified That was the impetus McGlothlin and his wife, Sandracommercial contractors in the Dallas/Fort Worth Sedillo-McGlothlin, needed to form Empire Roofingarea at the time, so his company quickly gained in 1982, selling the beloved Trans Am to make itmomentum. Empire Roofing expanded to Austin, happen. Initially working as a subcontractor, he andTexas in the late 90s and Memphis, Tenn., soon Sandra worked out of their home for years, caringafter.for their children while trying to get their fledglingThe expansions continued through partnering with roofing business off the ground. industry professionals like Billy Evans, John Dollar, I was broke for two years, almost three, McGlothlinSteve Pearce and Ben Koonce to manage new said. I remember doing a Safeway store here in Fortmarkets. The company now has locations spread Worth as a first job and I actually made $30,000 onacross six states and in Mexico.that job after doing no jobs, so I said, You know, IThe biggest part of our success has been the think things are looking good. partnerstoo,McGlothlinsaid.Yousurround Today, Empire Roofing lives up to its name as oneyourself with a bunch of good people, everybodys of the largest commercial roofing companies in thegot the same goals.country. The $148 million dollar contractor runsEmpire Roofing prides itself on 100% of its work a network of 14 locations, employs 700 workersbeing reroofing, repairs and maintenance. While nationwide, has been in the top 10 of RCs Topthat may seem counterintuitive to generating new 100 Roofing Contractor list since 2016, and servesbusiness, it works for the 10 largest property owners some of the nations most successful Fortune 500in the U.S. and has tackled high-profile projects. companies. Clients like American Airlines, Philip Morris USA, With a long list of accomplishments to its namePurina, and Kraft Foods turned to Empire Roofing.already, RC is proud to add another jewel to EmpireAchieving nationwide success comes in part from the Roofings crown: Commercial Roofing Contractorcompanies that inspired Empire Roofings owners. of the Year. McGlothlin said they aim for Empire Roofing to be Ive been so fortunate over the years to be blessedthe Maytag repairmen of the roofing industry by by so many people, McGlothlin said upon receivingproviding the best service, and for maintaining the the award. Theres no way someone can do it bycleanest trucks and equipment around, modeled themselves, you know? after UPS. Not Built in a Day McGlothlin admitted that, in addition to UPS, his After business began picking up in 1985, Empireupbringing played a role in his desire to keep Empires Roofing formed new crews and bought the phoneoperations clean and dressing its employees in crisp number of a roofing/insulation company that wasuniforms. He said his mother, being on welfare, shutting down its roofing division. Sandra ran theconstantly cleaned the few articles of clothing they administrative portions of the business and continueshad.to do so today, and despite the two separating moreShe said, Nothing else matters other than I just than 10 years ago, McGlothlin said the business stillwant you to be clean all the time. People will look runs smoothly.at you and think highly of you as long as youre Ive been asked over the years did I ever dreamclean, he said. She even said to me, I never want that we would be the size we are today? No, it wasto see your shoes dirty because I think that reflects completely by accident, McGlothlin said. It wasnton how clean a man is. Those kinds of things, as I anything we ever anticipated or dreamed aboutwas growing up, always stuck with me.from the start. Its success is also owed to working with all the McGlothlin,whoservesaspresident,saidthemajor suppliers and manufacturers, including Carlisle business really took off by 1987 when it hired essentialConstruction Materials.and talented employees, such as Matt Kelley, whoEmpire has been an authorized Carlisle applicator leads the companys sales and marketing.since2002,andisatwo-timerecipientofthe One thing we understood was that I could put on acompanys prestigious ESP (Excellence in Single-good enough product to give (Kelley) the confidencePly) Recognition, which is awarded only to roofing to be able to sell, so if youre a salesperson and youcontractorsthatconsistentlyexceedCarlisle Continued on page 16www.mrca.orgMidwest Roofer 15'